April 15th, 2015 | Posted by Lena Maria Nilsson in News - (Comments Off on Uncertain collaborations with Russia in the Arctic)

For the past five years the Arctic region has enjoyed a high level of cooperation not least because Russia has opted for collaboration with its Arctic neighbours. However, geopolitical tensions between Russia and the West have raised questions regarding the sustainability of that cooperation. The recent increase in Russia’s military activities in the Arctic have raised concerns over whether the Arctic can continue to be a ‘zone of peace and cooperation’ in the foreseeable future.

Read more in the publication: Russia and the Arctic: an end to cooperation? written by MASD researcher Ekaterina Klimenko. The essay is available at Sipris hompage. Klimenko March 15, 2015.

January 28th, 2015 | Posted by Lena Maria Nilsson in News - (Comments Off on New book on sustainable development in northern regions)

January 27th the e-book “Sustainable Development in the Circumpolar North. From Tana, Norway to Oktemtsy, Yakutia, Russia”, co-edited by Greg Halseth, Co-director of the Community Development Institute at the University of Northern British Columbia, Canada, was launched. The book provides practical strategies and tools for successfully dealing with the challenges and opportunities presented by the social and economic transformation being experienced in rural northern communities. Topics explored in the book include:

Youth, entrepreneurship and rural development, with a chapter that addresses how to create an innovative and entrepreneurial consciousness and identity among youth;

Sport, tourism and rural development, with chapters that look at the interface between different sections of the economy; and

Social and economic development in indigenous communities and religions, with chapters on the effects of industrial development and development challenges in indigenous communitie

January 21st, 2015 | Posted by Lena Maria Nilsson in News - (Comments Off on Sustainable growth in the Scandinavian Arctic – report of an independent expert group)

Norway, Sweden and Finland share common economic, environmental and social interests in the Scandinavian Arctic. This report, a co-production of an expert group set up by the Prime Ministers of Norway, Sweden and Finland in April 2014, defines four drivers of growth and offers four instruments for the Governments of Norway, Sweden and Finland to use to secure sustainable economic growth in the North. Growth from the North

November 13th, 2014 | Posted by Lena Maria Nilsson in News - (Comments Off on Sami mining policy available in English)

To clarify the standpoint of the Swedish Sami Parliament on how the natural resources within Sápmi shall be managed and especially in relationship to minerals mining, a strategy has been produced. It was adopted by the Plenary Assembly in Åre, Sweden on 20 May 2014. The document is available in English at the Sami Parliament, and a summary of the document is published at the Sami Parliament Homepage.

September 9th, 2014 | Posted by Lena Maria Nilsson in News - (Comments Off on Positive response from stakeholders in Storuman)

During the programme meeting in Storuman August 26-28, The MASD research team made significant progress on forwarding discussion across the programme, as well as on the AACA report, ethics, interview methodology, and the sustainability concept – and also got a very good understanding of the local case study area both in the public and invited stakeholder meetings!

Themes suggested by stakeholders at the public and invited stakeholder meetings:

Tax systems and local income and return from major developments, e.g. water power, wind

Long term consequences and valuation of resources: risks of exploitation, ecosystem services

Local coping and adaptation with regard to global developments such as world market prices: what are the limits of robustness and how does one identify this?

Changing climate and global resource demand

Coordination and cooperation between sectors, e.g. ecotourism cooperation with forestry

September 8th, 2014 | Posted by Lena Maria Nilsson in News - (Comments Off on Russia identifies the Arctic as a strategic priority)

According to a recent Mistra publication, Russia has identified the Arctic as both a strategic priority and a resource base for the 21st century. Against a backdrop of expectations about the opportunities available in the Arctic, Russia has primarily pursued a policy focused on strengthening national sovereignty in the region. However, despite the considerable attention given to the development of the Arctic by the Russian leadership, progress in achieving Russia’s goals in the Arctic has been slow. While debate has increased in the media and research community with regard to China’s potential as a partner for development of the Arctic, significant challenges stand in the way of a major reorientation of Russian Arctic policy towards China. The success of Russia’s recent energy cooperation with China will depend on solving previous problems, developing mutually acceptable forms of cooperation and increasing mutual trust.

The publication, Klimenko 2014, is available at the file menu of this homepage: Klimenko 2014